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UDAAN - 2024
A Letter to God
Introduction
The story, “A Letter to God” by G.L Fuentes revolves
around the idea of having unquestionable belief in
something. The story is set in a Latin American country.
Lencho, the farmer, who is the protagonist of the story,
writes a letter to God seeking help from the almighty after
discovering his entire crop yield destroyed by a devastating
hailstorm. Although, his wishes get fulfilled partially, if not
completely, he is ungrateful in the end and questions the
honesty and modesty of the post-masters who actually
helped him with money (anonymously) in the name of God.
Summary
The story, “A Letter to God” by G.L. Fuentes depicts the
unwavering faith of a farmer in God. It begins with a farmer,
named Lencho expecting for a rain shower to nourish his
field of corn. He is confident that his harvest is going to
yield him huge profits just like it does every year. To his
utmost excitement, rainfall did happen but sooner, it turned
into a hailstorm destroying his entire crop field. The damage
posed a threat to the family’s survival as their entire
livelihood was dependent on the year’s produce.
Although disheartened, the family had robust belief in the
almighty. Lencho, despite having worked day and night at
the field, knew how to write and thus, decided to write a
letter to God explaining his situation and asking for help.
He went to town to post his letter addressed “To God”. The
letter on being noticed by the postmaster, at first amused
him, but then motivated him want to do something for the
farmer so as to keep his immense belief intact. He
contributes from his salary and collects money from his
colleagues and friends who willingly contributed for an act
of charity.
To his dismay, he could only collect 70 pesos which he
wrapped in an envelope to make it seem like a reply from
the deity. On having found the letter, the writer (Lencho) is
not at all shocked, but instead, he gets angry on finding that
the amount is less than what he had expected. He again
writes a letter to God conveying his disappointment and
distrust in the employees of the post office who he thought
had stolen the remaining amount.
NCERT SOLVED QUESTIONS
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What did Lencho hope for?
Ans. Lencho hoped for rains as the only thing that his field
of ripe corn needed was a shower.
2. Why did Lencho say the raindrops were like 'new
coins'?
Ans. Lencho's crops were ready for harvest. However,
they required a good downpour before harvesting.
After a downpour, he could sell the harvest and get
money. That is why he compared the raindrops to
'new coins'.
3. How did the rain change? What happened to Lencho's
fields?
Ans. The rain was pouring down. But suddenly, a strong
wind began to blow and very large hailstones began
to fall along with the rain. The hail rained on the
valley for an hour, because of which Lencho's fields
were destroyed. There was not a single leaf left on the
trees and the flowers were gone from the plants. The
corn was completely destroyed.
4. What were Lencho's feelings when the hail stopped?
Ans. When the hail stopped, Lencho's soul was filled with
sadness. He looked around at his fields and said that
even a plague of locusts would have left more than
what was left after the hailstorm. He said that they
would have no corn that year and they would go
hungry. He was full of sorrow.
5. Who or what did Lencho have faith in? What did he
do?
Ans. Lencho had faith in God. He had been instructed that
God's eyes see everything, even what is deep in one's
conscience. Therefore, he wrote a letter to God
expressing his need for a hundred pesos so that he
could sow his field again and live until the crop grew
again.
6. Who read the letter?
Ans. When the postman saw that the letter was addressed
to God, he laughed and took the letter to the
postmaster, who then read it.
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7. What did the postmaster do then? Ans. (a) Lencho's house was located on the crest of a
Ans. In order to keep the writer's faith in God alive, the low hill.
postmaster decided to answer the letter. When he read (b) Lencho's wife was preparing supper.
that Lencho needed hundred pesos, he asked for (c) The word is 'intimately'.
money from his employees. He himself gave a part of (d) Crest means the top part of a hill.
his salary. He could not gather the entire amount, but
2. It was during the meal that, just as Lencho had
managed to send Lencho a little more than half the
predicted, big drops of rain began to fall. In the
amount. He put the money in an envelope addressed
North-East huge mountains of clouds could be seen
to Lencho and signed it 'God'.
approaching. The air was fresh and sweet. The man
8. Was Lencho surprised to find a letter for him with went out for no other reason than to have the pleasure
money in it? of feeling the rain on his body.
Ans. No. Lencho was not at all surprised to see the letter (a) What could be seen approaching in the North-
from God with money inside it. His confidence and East?
faith in God was such that he had expected that reply
(b) Why did Lencho go out?
from God.
(c) Explain the description: 'The air was fresh and
9. What made him angry?
sweet'.
Ans. He got angry when he counted the money. There
(d) Which word in the passage is a synonym of
were only seventy pesos in the envelope. He was
'forecast'?
confident that God could neither make a mistake nor
Ans. (a) Huge mountains of clouds could be seen
deny him what he had requested. Therefore, he
approaching in the North-East.
concluded that the post office employees must have
taken the remaining thirty pesos. (b) Lencho went out to have the pleasure of feeling
the rain on his body.
(c) The clouds brought cool and sweet smelling air
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
in their wake.
EXTRACT BASED QUESTIONS
(d) The word 'predict' is a synonym of 'forecast'.
Read the following extracts carefully and answer the
3. With a satisfied expression he regarded the field of
questions.
ripe corn with its flowers, draped in a curtain of rain.
1. The house - the only one in the entire valley - sat on
But suddenly a strong wind began to blow and along
the crest of a low hill. From this height one could see
with the rain very large hailstones began to fall.
the river and the field of ripe corn dotted with the
These truly did resemble new silver coins. The boys,
flowers that always promised a good harvest. The
exposing themselves to the rain, ran out to collect the
only thing the Earth needed was a downpour or at
frozen pearls.
least a shower. Throughout the morning Lencho who
(a) What happened to the rain suddenly?
knew his fields intimately had done nothing else but
see the sky towards the North -East. "Now we're (b) What followed the rain?
really going to get some water, woman." The woman (c) 'The frozen pearls' refers to which thing in the
who was preparing supper, replied, "Yes, God paragraph?
willing." (d) Find from the passage a word which means 'to
(a) Where was Lencho's house located? take after'.
(b) What was Lencho's wife preparing? Ans. (a) The rain suddenly changed into hailstones.
(c) Find the word from the passage which means (b) A strong wind followed the rain.
'very closely'. (c) 'The frozen pearls' refers to hailstones.
(d) What does 'crest' mean? (d) The word is 'Resemble'.

4. Not a leaf remained on the frees. The corn was totally
destroyed. The flowers were gone from the plants.
Lencho's soul was filled with sadness. When the
storm had passed, he stood in the middle of the field
and said to his sons. "A plague of locusts would have
left more than this." The hail has left nothing.
(a) Describe Lencho's feeling as shown in the
passage.
(b) What happened to the crop when the storm had
passed?
(c) Why did no leaf remain on the free?
(d) What do you mean by 'hail' in the last line?
Ans. (a) Lencho was filled with sadness when the storm
had passed.
(b) The crop was completely destroyed when the
storm had passed.
(c) A hailstorm had struck, leaving the field bare.
(d) 'Hail' is balls of ice that falls from the sky in
the form of rain.
5. "That's what they say: no one dies of hunger." All
through the night, Lencho thought only of his one
hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as he had been
instructed, see everything, even what is deep in one's
conscience. Lencho was an ox of a man, working like
an animal in the fields, but still he knew how to write.
(a) What was Lencho's only hope?
(b) How did Lencho work in the field?
(c) Find the exact word of similar meaning 'moral
sense' given in the passage.
(d) Explain 'an or of a man'.
Ans. (a) Lencho's only hope was the help of God.
(b) Lencho worked as an 'ox' in the field.
(c) The word is 'conscience'.
(d) It means a man working hard like an ox or
animal.
6. The postmaster - a fat, amiable fellow- also broke out
laughing, but almost immediately he turned serious
and tapping the letter on his desk, commented. "What
faith! I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this
letter. Starting up a correspondence with God!" So, in
order not to shake the writer's faith in God, the
postmaster came up with an idea: answer the letter.
But when he opened it, it was evident that to answer
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it he needed something more than goodwill, ink and
paper. But he stuck to his resolution: he asked for
money from his employees, he himself gave part of
his salary and several friends of his were obliged to
give something 'for an act of charity'.
(a) What kind of a person the postmaster was?
(b) How did the postmaster help Lencho?
(c) What was the postmaster's reaction to seeing
the letter?
(d) Find the exact word in similar meaning
'without delay' given in the passage.
Ans. (a) The postmaster was a fat, amiable and helpful
fellow.
(b) The postmaster helped Lencho by collecting
money from his employees and friends.
(c) He first laughed and then became serious.
(d) The word is 'Immediately'.
7. The following Sunday, Lencho came a bit earlier than
usual to ask if there was a letter for him. It was the
postman himself who handed the letter to him while
the postmaster, experiencing the contentment of a
man who has performed a good deed, looked on from
his office. Lencho showed not the slightest surprise
on seeing the money; such was his confidence, but he
became angry when he counted the money. God
could not have made a mistake, nor could he have
denied Lencho what he had requested.
(a) Why did Lencho come earlier to the post
office?
(b) Why was Lencho angry when he counted
money?
(c) Why did Lencho not get surprised on seeing
the money?
(d) Which word in the passage gives the meaning
'that one will be successful one day'?
Ans. (a) Lencho came earlier to the post office to know
if there was a letter for him.
(b) Lencho was angry when he counted money as
it was not the full amount that he had
demanded from God.
(c) This was because Lencho had full confidence
in God. He had firm faith in the help of God.
(d) The word is 'confidence'.
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8. When he finished, he went to the window to buy a (b) What was in Lencho's mind when he was
stamp which he licked and then affixed to the writing the letter?
envelope with a blow of his fist. The moment the (c) Find out a word from the passage which is the
letter fell into the mailbox the postmaster went to opposite of 'honest'.
open it. It said: "God: Of the money that I asked for, (d) Who are denoted a bunch of crooks?
only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the rest,
Ans. (a) By 'the rest' Lencho meant that the thirty pesos
since I need it very much. But don't send it to me
which were yet to be received.
through the mail because the post office employees
(b) Lencho thought that only God could help him
are a 'bunch of crooks'. Lencho."
in that hour of need.
(a) What did Lencho do with the stamp?
(c) The opposite of 'honest' is 'crooks'.
(b) What did the postmaster do when the letter fell
(d) The post office employees.
into the mailbox and why?
(c) Find out the word which has the similar
meaning as 'attached' used in the passage. SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
(d) Which word in the passage denotes 'a Answer the following questions in 30-40 words.
dishonest person'? 1. Who was Lencho? What were his main problems?
Ans. (a) Lencho licked and affixed the stamp to the Ans. Lencho was a hardworking farmer, who lived on the
envelope with a blow of his fist. crest of a low hill. Due to the hailstorm his crops were
(b) The postmaster immediately opened the letter destroyed, so he needed money to sow his field again
to know Lencho's feeling for the money he had and support his family. These were the main
received. problems of Lencho.

(c) The word is 'affixed'. 2. Where was Lencho's house situated? Why did he sit
seeing the sky?
(d) The word is 'crook'.
Ans. Lencho's house was situated on the crest of a low hill
9. "God" he wrote. "If you don't help me, my family and
in the valley. The whole day he sat seeing the sly
I will go hungry this year. I need a hundred pesos in
because he knew that his fields needed downpour or
order to sow my field again and to live until the crop
at least a shower and he was waiting to see the signs
comes, because the hail storm…...…".
of rain.
(a) Who is'he'?
3. What did Lencho compare the raindrops to and why?
(b) Why did the speaker need money?
Ans. Lencho compared the raindrops to new coins because
(c) How much money, does the speaker need?
the crop needed the rain badly and it was the sign of
(d) Who is 'you' in the passage? good harvest. Good harvest meant prosperity for
Ans. (a) 'He' here refers to Lencho'. Lencho as he needed the money to fulfill his basic
(b) The speaker needed money to save his family needs.
from hunger. 4. How did Lencho's hope change to despair?
(c) Lencho needed a hundred pesos. Ans. Lencho was waiting for a shower of rain that his field
(d) God. needed. But his hope for good rain vanished when the
10. The moment the letter fell into the mail box the post wind changed into hailstorm. It destroyed everything.
master went to open it It said, "God, of the money that So, Lencho's hope changed to despair as his family
I asked for only seventy pesos reached me. Send me would face starvation.
the rest, since I need it very much. But don't send it 5. Why did Lencho write a letter to God?
to me through the mail because the post office Ans. When Lencho's crops were completely destroyed by
employees are a bunch of crooks. the hailstorm, he wrote a letter to God because he was
(a) What does Lencho mean by 'the rest'? the only hope in his despair. Lencho asked him to

send hundred pesos to sow his field again and support
his family.
6. Why and how did the postmaster help Lencho?
Ans. The postmaster was determined to help Lencho. He
did not want Lencho's faith in God to be shaken so he
asked his employees and friends to help Lencho. He
also contributed a part of his salary for this act of
charity.
7. What were Lencho's feelings when he found the letter
with money in it? What did he do after opening the
letter?
Ans. In the beginning, Lencho was very happy and
satisfied to receive the letter. But when he counted
the money and found it less, he became very angry.
He wrote another letter to God, demanding thirty
more pesos.
8. Why did Lencho not want the money to be sent
through mail?
Ans. Lencho wrote in his second letter that he received
only seventy pesos but he needed a hundred pesos.
He requested God not to send rest of the money by
post since the post office employees were a bunch of
crooks and would steal the money.
9. What did Lencho write in his second letter?
Ans. Lencho needed money and wrote a letter to God to
send him the rest. The postmaster read that letter and
being a kind man, he sent him seventy pesos in the
name of God. When Lencho found thirty pesos less,
he wrote a second letter to God to send him the
remaining amount, but not through the mail as he felt
that the employees of the post-office were a bunch of
crooks.
10. Do you think that Lencho was right to call the post
office employees a bunch of crooks? Why or why
not?
Ans. Lencho called the post office employees a bunch of
crooks as he did not get full money that he had
demanded. He could not believe that God had sent
him any less money so he doubted these people. But
he was not right to call them a bunch of crooks.
11. Who does Lencho have complete faith in? Which
sentences in the story tell you this?
Ans. Lencho had complete faith in God. The sentences in
the story that show this are as follows:
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(i) But in the hearts of all who lived in that solitary
house in the middle of the valley, there was a
single hope: help from God.
(ii) All through the night, Lencho thought only of
his one hope: the help of God, whose eyes, as
he had been instructed, see everything, even
what is deep in one's conscience.
(iii) "God," he wrote, "if you don't help me, my
family and I will go hungry this year."
(iv) He wrote 'To God' on the envelope, put the
letter inside and, still troubled, went to town.
(v) God could not have made a mistake, nor could
he have denied Lencho what he had requested.
(vi) It said: "God: of the money that I asked for,
only seventy pesos reached me. Send me the
rest, since I need it very much."
12. Why does the postmaster send money to Lencho?
Why does he sign the letter 'God'?
Ans. The postmaster sent money to Lencho in order to
keep Lencho's faith in God alive. He turned serious
when he read Lencho's letter and wished he had the
same faith in God. Even after he saw that Lencho had
requested for money, he stuck to his resolution of
answering the letter. He gathered as much money as
he could and sent it to Lencho. He signed it 'God' so
that Lencho's faith would not get shaken.
13. Did Lencho try to find out who had sent the money
to him? Why / Why not?
Ans. No, Lencho does not try to find out who had sent the
money to him. This is because he never suspected
that it could be anybody else other than God who
would send him the money. His faith in God was so
strong that he believed that God had sent him the
money.
14. Who does Lencho think has taken the rest of the
money? What is the irony in the situation?
[Remember that the irony of a situation is an
unexpected aspect of it. An ironic situation is strange
or amusing because it is the opposite of what is
expected.]
Ans. Lencho thought that the post office employees had
taken the rest of the money. The irony of the situation
was that the employees whom he called a "bunch of
crooks" and suspected of taking some of the money

were the same people who had contributed and sent
him the money in the first place.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Answer the following questions in 100-120 words.
1. Give a character-sketch of Lencho.
Ans. Lencho was a simple man and a hard-working farmer.
He worked as an ox in his field. Lencho's entire crops
were badly destroyed by the hailstorm. So, he became
very sad as he was worried about his family. He was
an optimistic person. Although his only source of
living was taken away, he didn't lose hope. He had
his last hope in God. He was confident that God
would help him in his distress. Lencho was an
innocent atheist who didn't know that there was no
such living person as God who could send him
money. He had blind faith in God and sought solution
of his problem from God only.
2. How do you like, the character of the postmaster in
the story 'A Letter to God?" Give reason for your
answer.
Ans. The postmaster was a fat and friendly fellow. He was
a sensible human being. He first laughed looking at
the letter which had a strange address. But soon he
became serious. He was surprised at the faith that
Lencho had in God. He wanted his faith not to be
shaken. The postmaster himself gave a part of his
salary and also requested his employees and a few
friends to contribute for charity. He felt happy and
satisfied when Lencho received the money. This
shows that he was a kind and empathetic person as
well. He loved to help others.
3. Write a letter as Lencho to your friend and tell him
about the destruction of your crops, the letter you
wrote to God and the reply with money you received.
Express your irritation about the post office
employees also
Ans. 43, Free Lane
PW Web/App - https://smart.link/7wwosivoicgd4
Library- https://smart.link/sdfez8ejd80if
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Nepal
20th Jan, 20
Dear Poko
Hope you are hale and hearty. This year is not going
to be so good for me as the last one. The rains have
ruined all my harvest. We have nothing to eat. So. I
thought of writing a letter to God and asked him to
send 100 pesos. And do you know Poko, I got the
money but not the amount I had asked for. Thirty
pesos were missing. I have doubt on the post-office
employees. I wrote to God again and requested for
the remaining money I'm sure he will definitely send
the money again.
I'm waiting for a reply from God.
With love Lencho
4. There are two kinds of conflict in the story: between
humans and nature, and between humans themselves.
How are these conflicts illustrated?
Ans. The conflict between humans and nature is illustrated
by the destruction of Lencho's crops by the hailstorm.
Lencho had worked really hard on his fields and the
harvest was really important for him. He required the
money to feed his family. However, the nature turned
violent. The rains were accompanied by a hailstorm,
which destroyed the crops. The story also illustrates
another conflict, between humans themselves. The
postmaster, along with the help of the other post
office employees, sent Lencho the money that they
could manage to collect. They were not related to
Lencho in any manner. It was an act of kindness and
selflessness on their part. Even though they did a
good deed, Lencho blamed them for taking away
some amount of money. He called them "a bunch of
crooks". This shows that man does not have faith in
his fellow humans, thereby giving rise to this conflict.